Politique de concurrence

Article published in the European Voice on March 19, 2008. First there is a subsidy to produce wine and then another subsidy to destroy it. The current cost to EU taxpayers of getting rid of surplus wine is €500 million. The ineffectiveness of EU wine policy is made all the more evident by falling European consumption of its own wines. Plus ça change...

Regulatory agencies always find good reasons to regulate. It's possible to reverse the tendency of regulators to constantly expand their turf. What is needed is a clear stand in favour of the free market on the part of the legislator.

Article published in the Canadian newspaper, National Post, on March 12, 2008. For the third time in a decade-long antitrust saga, the European Commission imposed a fine on Microsoft, this time to the tune of 899 million euros. The new fine confirms that the Commission is acting blindly by not measuring competition correctly in the market for these technologies.

Article publié exclusivement sur le site de l'Institut économique Molinari. Le Tribunal de Grande Instance de Versailles a donné raison au syndicat de la librairie française contre Amazon.fr qui doit cesser d'offrir la livraison gratuite des livres sur son site Internet. De telles décisions juridiques transforment malheureusement le marché des livres en un marché politique !

Article publié par Le Temps, le 5 mars 2008. Alors que la Commission européenne a condamné le 27 février 2008 la société Microsoft à de nouvelles amendes d'un montant de 899 millions, il ne faut pas perdre de vue que cette décision comme celles qui l'ont précédée détournent l'attention d'enjeux stratégiques importants pour le futur du marché des nouvelles technologies.

Article first published in The Wall Street Journal Europe on February 21, 2008. The High Court at Versailles agreed with the French booksellers’ association, ordering Amazon.fr in December to begin charging for shipping. Judicial rulings like that unfortunately convert the market of goods into a political market.

Article published in the EU Reporter Magazine (nov. 2007-jan. 2008, p. 22). Although prescription, use and reimbursement of drugs policies can reduce some pharmaceutical spending by favouring systematically the use of cheaper medicines, this involves a bureaucratisation of drug use that presents risks for the health of the insured and a potential increase in other health care or patients' costs.

Article published exclusively on the Institut économique Molinari's website. Christmas time is behind and good children have certainly received gifts or toys from Santa Claus. But despite his goodwill, Santa is having more and more hard time delivering the goods because of over-regulation, especially in countries like France.

Note économique / Décembre 2007